Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Sentence After Brutal Imprisonment

President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, reducing her 35-year prison term to seven years served with a release date of May 17, 2017. The commutation came after Manning attempted suicide twice in 2016 while serving her sentence as a transgender woman in a men’s military prison, prompting widespread concerns that she would not survive her full sentence.

The Commutation

In one of his final acts as president, Obama commuted all but four months of Manning’s remaining sentence on January 17, 2017. The decision came after years of advocacy by human rights organizations, civil liberties groups, and over 100,000 people who signed petitions calling for Manning’s release. Obama’s commutation did not pardon Manning—which would have cleared her criminal record—but instead reduced her sentence to time served.

Brutal Conditions and Suicide Attempts

Manning’s commutation followed a harrowing period of imprisonment marked by solitary confinement, denial of medical treatment, and systemic mistreatment related to her gender identity. Imprisoned as a transgender woman in an all-male military facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Manning faced harassment, denial of adequate healthcare, and punitive treatment for seeking to transition.

In 2016, Manning attempted suicide twice, in July and October. After the first attempt, instead of receiving mental health support, she was charged with misconduct and threatened with indefinite solitary confinement. The ACLU and human rights advocates warned that the military’s treatment of Manning amounted to torture and that she was unlikely to survive the remaining decades of her sentence. The ACLU stated that Obama’s commutation “most likely saved her life.”

Context: Torture and UN Condemnation

Manning’s treatment throughout her imprisonment drew international condemnation. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Méndez had previously found that her pre-trial confinement—including 11 months of solitary confinement, forced nudity, and sleep deprivation—constituted “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” in violation of the Convention Against Torture.

During her imprisonment at Fort Leavenworth, Manning continued to face punitive conditions. She was denied basic items, placed in solitary confinement for minor infractions, and subjected to a disciplinary system that human rights organizations characterized as retaliatory. Her suicide attempts were treated as disciplinary violations rather than mental health crises.

Response and Significance

The commutation was praised by civil liberties organizations and human rights groups worldwide. Amnesty International, which had designated Manning a prisoner of conscience, called it a “long overdue positive step for human rights.” The ACLU emphasized that Manning had already served a longer sentence than any other whistleblower in U.S. history.

Critics of the commutation, including Republican lawmakers and some national security officials, argued that Manning’s actions had endangered lives and undermined national security—claims that were never substantiated with specific evidence during her trial. President-elect Trump incorrectly claimed on Twitter that Obama had “pardoned” Manning, when in fact it was a commutation, and called Manning an “ungrateful traitor.”

Obama’s Whistleblower Legacy

The commutation did not erase Obama’s broader legacy as the president who prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous presidents combined. Manning was one of eight whistleblowers charged under the Espionage Act during Obama’s tenure, part of an unprecedented crackdown on national security leakers. While the commutation acknowledged that Manning’s sentence was excessive, it came only after she had endured seven years of imprisonment, torture, and near-death experiences.

Release

Manning was released from military prison on May 17, 2017, after serving seven years in confinement. Her case remained emblematic of the tension between government secrecy and public accountability, and the severe personal costs imposed on those who expose government wrongdoing.